Gimme Danger Chicago

If you’re around Chicago and not fearful of a little design and woodworking conversation, demonstration, and rip-your-face-off skill, then I highly recommend you get up on those tortured heels and get yourself to Jeff Miller’s emporium of woodworking esoterica this weekend.

This is probably my favorite annual Lie-Nielsen handtool event, and that says a lot. These events are one of the greatest services to the handtool community there is, they’re completely free, and they’re completely zero-pressure. They are truly run as a social and educational event, and no one’s going to push you to buy anything, talk any trash, or do anything other than answer questions, do some demos, and (hopefully) drink a bit too much coffee with me.

I’m bringing a bunch of planes, and a toolkit so I can demo doing some decorative kumiko and shoji work. Mark Hicks from Plate 11 bench co. is bringing sick work surfaces. LN is bringing every damn thing.

LN does these events all over the country. Why is this particular one such a standout? Well – two reasons.

One – cause Jeff Miller’s one of the most talented furniture makers I’ve run across, he’s one of the few people I’ve met who’s truly a master of both hand and power tools, and he’s got a brain that simply doesn’t ever slow down. In addition to having the goods in spades, he’s wizard at being able to explain how and why he does it. Teach AND do is a cocktail that doesn’t happen in this capacity that often. You WILL learn something at this event.

And TWO – cause Chicago’s the closest thing to the east coast in the midwest. This is a very GOOD THING. There’s amazing food, crazy people doing odd things on the sidewalks, and all sorts of sounds you won’t want to identify happening here, folks. It smells like New York with Kielbasa-powered body odor. I love cities, and Chicago’s as close to a city as you’ll find this far from the ocean.